CABRIER (LONDON) 20K Repousse Skeletonized Pair Case Quarter Repeater Verge Fusee Key Wind & Key Set Yellow Gold

Description

REMARKS: One of the most fascinating and stupendous antique pocket watches in our collection. This is an early Eighteenth Century (circa pre-1750s) pocket watch / timepiece made by Cabrier of London as probably one of their finest works. It is a solid gold watch probably alloyed to be 20K in content. This is as high grade and luxurious as a watch can get over 270 years ago, nothing is spared in its making. Watches such as this from the early Eighteenth Century were all completely hand-made down to every screw of the mechanism. This watch has an incredible amount of extremely hard to execute features such as the skeletonized repoussé case with a Cadeceus (symbol of medicine, a staff with two interwining snakes) and two human/god characters. One of the characters appears to be a godly one in a sitting position on clouds, handing over the Cadeceus to the standing character. The bezel and outer rim of the caseback are completely skeletonized to allow for sound dispersement from the quarter repeater mechanism inside. This outer repoussé case is in incredibly good condition with all of the details and features still clear and sharp. Opening the outer case reveals an equally-impressive inner case that is all skeletonized over the entire caseback band. There are phoenix, mouse, and grotesque face figures embedded amongst the hollowed out sections, truly it is a marvel to behold. Even the watch paper inside the outer case is possibly original to it with Eardley Norton designation. Inside the watch the movement is protected by its original nickle-color dustcover with the Cabrier London engraving. The movement itself is an early English Verge Fusee with ornate column pillars and an engraved mainspring barrel.

CONDITION REPORT: Condition-wise the watch runs and the quarter repeating works (off by around 2 minutes). It was serviced a while back so this watch definitely will operate as it should but due to its age we will not make any guarantee to its function. Watches from over 200 years ago were rarely made to be accurate so certainly we do not guarantee timekeeping accuracy. Cosmetically this is one of the best conditioned verge fusee watches we’ve ever come across especially with regards to its repoussé and skeletonized cases. The inner case is fragile and has some splitting at a few areas of where it was hollowed out. The dial is not cracked but it has several long scratches and some edge chipping. The crystal has some scratches to it as well. For as old as this watch is it’s truly in marvelous shape. Outer case diameter is 48mm. There is no doubt in our honest assessment that this watch is a museum worthy antique timepiece.